Above and Below
by Zoakdo
Summary: A year before the girls of RWBY arrived at Beacon, others began their own journey through the halls. They experienced trials and friendships of their own. All on a path to realize their goals and dreams, even the ones they don't yet have. OC-centric story.
1. The Queen's Guard

I'm back. After four years of absence to pursue my terrorist punching hobby, I'm here with a new story. It'll contain action, adventure, romance, and a premise I'm sure no less than twelve million people have already tried. But no matter, I'm here to tell my story.

On a housekeeping note, this story begins a year before the events in the series. Also, as much of this story has already been planned out, elements of it may not fit the canon. I will endeavor to include what I can, but telling a good story is my priority over forcing in things I didn't expect. Anything after season two especially falls under this warning. On that note, I hope you enjoy Above and Below.

* * *

Vert was doing what those familiar with him said was his favorite activity: sulking. The sun was rising on his third day at Beacon as he listened to his teammates sleep, though the sound was mostly Azure's snoring. He was already dressed in his school uniform, having added a hood to his. In his mind, being made fun of for his fashion choices always surpassed terrifying people with his eyes. As a lizard faunus, his eyes were inhuman and red. The hood was the best solution he had. His thoughts was currently rushing through the data from yesterday. He wasn't sure how he or his teammates would deal with it. Ozpin's words hadn't left his head.

"Vert Nightshade, Prism Delante, Redmond Von Blutarch, Azure Aracheli, you have collected the king of spades. From this point on, you will be team VAPR, led by Vert Nightshade." He scoffed at the memory. He wasn't a leader. A leader was the one who orders the kill, not the one who carries it out. But if that was the headmaster's orders, he had no choice but to obey. He couldn't help but smirk at how even his attitude towards leading was about following.

It wasn't long until his teammates began to stir. The first up was Redmond. He didn't spend any time waking up, instead immediately heading for the closet to change into his uniform. Vert had been surprised by the number of people of large size he had seen since arriving in Beacon, Redmond being among them by consisting of six feet of muscle under a shaved head. He slipped into the bathroom to change, making enough noise to rouse the other teammates.

"Good morning friends," Azure said too loudly for this early in the morning. He made an overly exaggerated stretch as he sat up, sending the sounds of a cracking back throughout the room. He walked towards a mirror he had set up yesterday and began to fix his absurdly long hair. It went down to the middle of his back and was possibly the longest in their grade. "How did you all sleep?"

"Fine," Prism, the lone girl of the group, replied sleepily. "Can we get a few more hours though?"

"Not if we want to get to class on time," Azure responded.

"Fine by me," Prism said as she curled back into her bed. Azure waved his hand at her, causing the blanket she was underneath to be swept off of her by a gust of wind. She glared at the blonde boy before getting up, dragging her tan serpentine tail behind her. Redmond stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in his uniform that was clearly a little too small for him. Aggressive movement seemed like it would cause the entire thing to split open.

"The bathroom is open for whoever needs it," Redmond announced. Prism took the offer and went to change. Once she had finished, Azure was done with his hair and went in as well.

"Any idea what the first day will be like?" Redmond asked them, his hands nervously fidgeting in his lap.

"Two days ago I would've said they'd ease us into the classes, but they did literally launch us into a forest of Grimm yesterday, so I'm not sure," Prism answered. Both turned to Vert for his thoughts. He just gave a small shrug.

"Time to get going," Azure announced as he stepped from the bathroom, again louder than the rest of them were. Vert wondered where the volume could've come from in that thin body. They all got up and walked out together, Azure playing the gentleman by holding the door for all of them. As Vert walked out, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a neon pink lollipop and placed it in his mouth.

"Ooh, that looks tasty," Azure commented when he saw the candy. "Could I try one?"

"No," Vert flatly answered in a way that made it clear there would be no discussion on the subject. Azure plainly wanted to press the issue, but instead just walked to Prism and began to engage in small talk with his sleepy partner who struggled to recognize who he was. As they reached the classroom, about half the class was there, some tired, some energetic, most nervous. It took a few minutes for the rest of them to file in. Vert observed the room with trophies of Grimm and a blunderbuss-axe prominently displayed in a case. When the professor came out, he looked like a man whose main hobby was bragging. A man with a giant white mustache and extra weight put on by years out of the field, but still carrying the poise of someone who was more than capable in combat.

"Welcome students," he announced at eight o'clock on the second. "I am Professor Port, and I am here to pass on my extensive knowledge and to guide you into being excellent huntsmen and huntresses," he announced. "Now, who am I to hold a position of such stature you may be wondering. That's why I believe the first order of business is a story. When I was just a young boy..." Vert tuned out at this point. He could think of a million things he'd rather be doing right now than listening to him. He turned his gaze to look at the various students. Most were like him, either staring into the distance or pretending to care. A few actually seemed interested, notably Azure who was hanging on every detail. He stayed in daydream mode to focus on the taste of his lollipop, wrapping around it with his forked tongue.

"Of course, this is just one of my adventures, but I think it shows all of the most important characteristics for huntsmen to have," he finally concluded. "Now I ask, do any of you have what it takes to be called a huntsman or huntress." Everyone was still returning to reality, so they didn't immediately say anything. That was when a girl in the front row slowly raised her hand.

"Ah, looks like we have a candidate. Why don't you go your weapons and we'll see." She looked around quickly to see if he was talking to someone, and then realized she was the only one raising her hand. She got up and scampered to get her things. Chatter erupted among the class as they waited and Port stepped aside to get something. A few minutes later, the girl emerged.

She was short, about five feet tall. Her hair was sloppy and pink that just reached her eyes. For clothes, plate armor the same color as her hair. What stood out most was her weapon: a greatsword with a blade literally longer than she was tall. She approached the center of the room, seeming more timid than before.

"Make sure you introduce yourself to your class," Port told her from beside a shaking cage. She followed his orders and turned towards them.

"My name is Beryl Sechseck. I am the leader of team BEYL," she announced.

"Well Miss Sechseck, good luck," he warned as he hit the release on the cage, freeing the boarbatusk trapped inside. The creature charged Beryl right away, a move she avoided with a surprising amount of grace. But as it turned around, it curled up into a spinning disk, upping its speed. Beryl rolled aside, dodging the attack. The creature spun around and rushed her a second time, only to miss again.

"Nice evasion!" the Professor called out. "But fast footwork alone won't beat a Grimm." She didn't react to his words, instead focusing on the boarbatusk coming back for her. Instead of jumping aside, she went up, rotating her body so she was parallel to the ground. She performed a side swing, hitting it head on. Instead of bouncing off the armor like everyone thought it would, the blade moved straight through the Grimm, cutting it in half. She continued turning with the moment and landed back in her feet, though she was wobbling a bit while panting.

"Truly remarkable. As you can all see, Miss Sechseck here knows her strengths and takes full advantage of them. I hope you can all work hard to follow her example." As he finished his speech, the bell rang and the students began to file out. Vert was going to head out on his own, but found Azure in the way.

"That was an impressive display. That was a lot more power than I'd thought she'd have," he gushed.

"I agree, I was really surprised," Vert added.

"I wonder what she looks like under her armor. Probably all muscle," Prism interjected.

"Her strength is good, but not the way she used it," Redmond cut in. He didn't sound judgemental, just like he was stating the facts. "She might as well yelled out what she was about to do with how obvious her movements were. Anyone in our year would have no trouble evading that."

"Are you saying her strength isn't impressive?" Azure responded with a huff.

"I'm saying it doesn't matter if you're the strongest in history if everyone can dodge." Redmond made it clear his mind was made up on the matter. Even if Azure wanted to continue the argument he didn't. Instead he returned to speaking with Prism who was substantially more awake than she was before class.

Their classes were relatively uneventful until their practical combat class, taught by none other than Glynda Goodwitch. "Good afternoon class," she said from the middle of an arena in the center of the room. The students sat in seats a level up looking down on the it. "Welcome to your first combat lesson. This class largely consists of sparring matches in order to promote growth. All fights are recorded and can be reviewed in the archives, a resource you should learn to take advantage of," she lectured them all.

"Now some of you may be thinking your combat scores won't matter for your freshmen year, but falling behind now means having to catch up when you begin to try. Furthermore, as you all should know the Vytal Festival will be held in Atlus this year, and we won't be sending everyone, only those that pass our test will be allowed." Murmurs passed through the crowd but quickly quieted down. "So until we have a more solid understanding of your skills, opponents shall be decided by lot," she signaled to a large screen above the arena. "The lesson shall now begin."

All the students watched the screen, some in excitement, others in fear. The first faces appeared on the screen. "Cyrus Iran of team OCEN vs Redmond Von Blutarch of team VAPR," she announced. The two in question got up and went to the locker room to change. It wasn't long until he was standing in full gear, ready to fight. He had a platemail colored a brownish red. On both of his shoulder pieces was his emblem: three chain links in a row with the middle one separated by a diagonal slash. Similar faded chain designs could be seen all across the armor. In his hands was his weapon: an assault rifle that could reshape itself to become a sword with a triangular shaped blade.

Cyrus looked very different, with almost everything having been covered in black or dark gray. With his head, the mask came up to his nose and ears, leaving the top half of his head and violently bright orange hair visible. His hands were also uncovered. The piece on his wrist rode up the back of his hand and wrapped around his middle finger, leaving the rest of it bare. At his hip was an unremarkable sword resting in its scabbard.

Goodwitch was standing off to the side as she prepared to commence the fight. "The battle is over when a competitor's aura drops into the red or for whatever reason is unable to fight," she explained to them. Redmond had his weapon in sword form and raised to block any projectile aimed at a vital spot. Cyrus assumed a more offensive posture, looking like he was about to charge. Goodwitch raised her hands one at a time, then brought them down with the word "begin!"

Cyrus treated her words like a starting gun, dashing towards his opponent. Redmond waited a breath, then stepped forward, swinging his sword right where Cyrus was about to be. But the boy in black proved more agile than expected, stepping to the side without losing speed, avoiding the blade and getting right in front of Redmond. Instead of raising his sword, he raised his bare hand instead, placing a single finger on Redmond's forehead.

"You've lost. Surrender." Cyrus demanded. The students were baffled by this as neither of the combatants made a move.

"No," Redmond answered. He sounded as if just speaking was taking a monumental amount of effort. A second passed before snapping was heard. Redmond's body twisted around as he fell to the floor, his arms and legs in unnatural positions.

"Halt!" Goodwitch called as she approached the combatants. "The match is over. Mr. Iran is the winner." She kneeled down next to him and placed a hand on his chest. Vert couldn't tell what she had done, but her face lost any sense of worry, so he was comforted by the knowledge that his partner probably wasn't dead. "Mr. Iran, you can return to your seat."

"Actually Ma'am," a girl with braided black hair called from the seats, standing up in the process, "I'd like to fight Cyrus, if that's okay."

"Ms. Vigne, Mr. Iran just finished a battle. It would hardly be fair-"

"I barely used anything in that. I'm more than ready for another round," Cyrus interrupted her. Goodwitch took a deep breath as she readjusted her glasses.

"Very well, the next round will be between Olive Vigne of team OCEN and Cyrus Iran of team OCEN. Mr. Nightshade," she called to Vert, "would you please take your teammate to the infirmary."

"Okay," he replied, jumping from the stands and landing flawlessly. He walked to Redmond's form to pick up his partner, only to find him and his armor much heavier than expected. Suddenly, the weight vanished as he was lifted by a massive student with tan skin and black hair. He made for the door, but waited for Vert to catch up.

"Thanks. His armor is a pain," Vert justified. The boy just nodded. Seeing as conversation wasn't either of their strong suit, Vert would be fine with silence. However, he liked to know the name of the helper. "Vert. Team VAPR."

"Yatsuhasi. Team CFVY," he replied. The two were going to leave the room, when he saw Olive step out into the arena. Her clothes were mostly a deep, dark blue, chiefly a tunic and pants. Over her left breast and on her left shoulder were pads, making her look like an archer. Her left arm covering was a continuation of the armor, but her right was a thin white sleeve.

"Ms. Vigne, you've seemed to have forgotten your weapons," Goodwitch lectured with surprising patience.

"Actually, I decided I don't need it," she replied. Goodwitch said nothing more and went to her position as judge. "And after all, discipline is best when done with your bare hands." Vert wanted to see how the fight would play out, but resisted, knowing it was more important to see to Redmond's health. He reluctantly pulled himself away and caught up with Yatsuhashi.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

Olive sat quietly in the library, going over her fight with Cyrus replaying on the screen before her. Every futile swing and desperate lunge for her face was captured. While he hadn't touched her once in their entire fights, there were moments when he came closer than she would've liked. She made a thousand mental notes on infinitesimal things she needed to work on based on the fight.

Part of her found it humorous how easy his fighting style was to predict. Based on his clothes and the fact he had gone for the only exposed part of Redmond made it clear he needed skin to skin contact in order to use what she had been almost certain was his semblance. Knowing that he would only aim for her face or hands made dodging a simple task. His sword had been a different matter, being an extending and segmented blade he could manipulate freely, but her abilities still rendered his offense useless.

She couldn't help but wonder if she had overdone it when she finally turned the tables on him. But she wasn't too worried as the wounds probably weren't life threatening. And if they were, he was too weak to be a useful partner anyway. He wasn't weak, but he needed his pride taken away. His treatment of Redmond was also too much. Victory was fine, but brutality like that against a fellow student couldn't go unpunished. He needed to see she was in charge and that he wouldn't have the right to disobey her.

"Finished," Forest sighed as he placed his scroll he had been furiously typing on until a moment ago onto the table, breaking Olive out of her thoughts and bringing her back to the situation at hand.

"And?" Olive asked him. They were currently the only ones in the library, empty due to the lack of class work. Her other teammates, Elvas and Neon, we're back in the OCEN dorm room.

"You were right," he conceded. "After you, it goes Umbra, Mint, Eth, Canary."

"I told you I knew what I was talking about," she told him with her normal air of superiority. "I've actually already sent them each a message."

"You have no faith in me, do you?" He asked, a touch annoyed.

"I do, I just have more faith in me," she explained.

"Fair enough." He stood up from his chair. "Where and when?"

"The back roof. Large, out of the way, it's perfect." She did the same as him. "The when is soon, so we should move." The pair left the room and headed for the location, stopping briefly for her to pick up her weapon: Reine des Étoiles, a dark blue longbow with a glowing blue string that seemed to be moving. Fully armed, she arrived at the meeting spot. It wasn't long until four more approached.

"I'm glad all of you could make it," she greeted while looking them all over. Each was dressed in their combat outfits. Umbra had cropped black hair with a matching tank top. She wore green cargo pants with four bulging pockets on the outside of each leg. On her feet were a pair of black combat boots with reinforced heels and toes.

Mint was much simpler. Neck length green hair and a full body grey jumpsuit. There several thin pieces of padding, but it was mostly skin tight. Olive found it interesting attire for a girl supposedly so shy. Her clothes made it clear she didn't have any weapons on her.

Eth had brown hair covering his eyes and a high necked green camouflage jacket covering the rest of his face. His legs were in a brown baggy material. On his back was his long spear with a two foot long barbed spear head.

Finally, there was Canary. He had blindingly yellow hair that was hidden by a hood at the moment. His entire body was covered in a pure white monk's robe. He looked ready to give a sermon, not enter a fight. On each hip was a rod about a foot and a half long.

"Cut the pleasantries," Umbra told her. "Unless you just called us out for small talk."

"Politeness is a virtue, you know. As is patience," Canary lectured.

"Pretty sure attempted murder ain't the act of a saint," she bit back.

"I assure you, I attempted no such thing. If I had, he would be dead," she stated matter of factly. Mint seemed scared by her words, though the other three were unfazed.

"Can we get back on topic?" Eth asked. "I want to hear what she has to say."

"Thank you," Olive nodded slightly to him. "I've gathered information on all the students in our year. After me, you four are the strongest."

"Humble, aren't you," Umbra commented. Olive ignored her and continued.

"As the best, it's not in our best interest to train with the weak. Rather, we should focus on helping each other to grow." She stopped, letting her words sink in.

"One question," Eth started. "Why's Forest here?"

"I'm not here to fight," Forest assured his teammate. "I've got a good eye. I can point things out you might miss in the heat of the moment."

"Fair enough. I'm in," Eth assured.

"Me too. It sounds like a good opportunity," Canary added.

"Me three," Mint finally spoke up. Umbra scowled at all of them before speaking up.

"Fine, I'll join. Just one condition: we fight to see who's in charge," Umbra insisted.

"I can accept that," Olive replied, removing her bow from its resting place on her back. This was what she had expected she would have to do anyway. In fact, she was more surprised they had all agreed so quickly. She guessed being the types who pursued strength, something like this was more than welcome.

"I surrender," Eth told them as he stepped to the side.

"Just like that? You're not even going to try?" Umbra berated him.

"I'm good at sizing someone up. And I make a point not picking fights I can't win," he explained.

"I'm with him. Training is good, but an actual battle will only get us hurt," Canary added. Mint stepped over to Eth and Canary.

"Cowards," Umbra spat out as she took her fighting stance. Forest stepped to the middle and took on the judge's role. The fight was less than three minutes long.

"Damn," Umbra groaned from her position on the ground.

"You did well," Olive told her as she reattached her curved swords as they shifted back into the bow. "You need more self control. When your strategies fail, you get angry. When you're angry, you stop thinking and just start lashing out."

"Ugh," she moaned. She gave Olive a look that wanted to argue, but knew she was right.

"If you'd like, we cowards can help," Canary interjected, offering the prone girl a hand. She reluctantly took it and was pulled up.

"With what?" She growled, temper still not back under control.

"Anger management. Or, failing that, more effective lashing out," he told her with a smile. Her features softened at his joke, but only marginally.

"I'm going to rest for now. See you guys tomorrow," she said as she left. The remaining five stayed behind to talk and plan. Each brought up ways they usually trained and suggested ideas Forest would adapt into a regiment. They were about to part when Canary stopped them.

"As we're a group but not on the same team, don't you think we should have a name?" He asked the remaining members.

"Do you have any ideas?" Mint was the one who asked, seeming to have warmed up to them a bit.

"Olive is in charge and she thinks herself a queen," he started. Olive smiled at this honestly. "So, I was thinking we should be called the Queen's Guard."

"I like it," Olive immediately chimed in. Eth and Mint remained quiet, not voicing any objections.

"I find it fitting," Forest added.

"Well then, since Umbra abstains via absence, our name shall be the Queen's Guard," Olive declared, adding more gravitas than the few words deserved.

With that matter settled, the members returned to their respective rooms. When Olive got back, she saw both Neon and Elvas were still awake.

"How'd your club meeting go?" Neon started.

"It went well. They're all on board for it," Olive she told them as she walked to her closet and began changing. She could tell by the sound that both had turned away from her. Neon would've called her unique, Elvas would say horrifying.

"That surprises me," Elvas commented. "Canary I can believe, Eth too. But Umbra seems like a bitch and I haven't seen Mint say a word these past few days."

"They wouldn't be here if they didn't want to get stronger. I'm just facilitating that," she explained.

"I'll wait before I call this a success. I don't think they'll play well with others," Elvas declared.

"If they don't, I'll have you two come teach them how," she informed them in a way that made it clear they didn't get a choice in the matter.

"Might as well do what we're good at," Neon concluded. Olive was finished changing and climbed into her bed.

"Has Cyrus come back at all?"

"Not that I know. We haven't seen him since we took him to the infirmary," Neon replied.

"He's probably too embarrassed about the way you toyed with him," Elvas added.

"He needed to understand who's in charge of OCEN," she told them. "It'll take some more time, but he'll learn. After that, it won't be long before all the freshmen realize OCEN is in charge of them."

"I like the sound of that," Elvas agreed with her. Olive slept well that night, believing today had gone exactly how she had planned it.

* * *

And there you go. I hope you liked it. If you did, please tell me why. If you didn't, please also tell me why. Is there something or someone you'd like to see more or less of? I won't know if you don't tell me. Most of all, thanks for reading.


	2. Supremacy

Vert was up early again. He hadn't slept as much as he'd like last night, what with Azure being incapable of silence or understanding what a thrown pillow means. Additionally, he had never been good at sleeping past sunrise. Today he didn't feel like sitting around waiting for the rest of his team to wake up like he usually did, so he got dressed and headed to the cafeteria. By the time he arrived, his first lollipop of the day was already gone. He got his food and walked into the room, expecting to find no one. Instead, he learned he wasn't the only person up this early.

"Oh, hello," a girl greeted him. She had chocolate brown hair tied back in a ponytail that left some loose locks falling on her face. He nodded to her as he moved to take a seat at a distant table. "Would you like to join me? It's a little lonely out here." He froze, knowing that his two choices were to eat with her or look like an asshole. He decided to follow the first as he took a seat across from her.

"I'm Cinnamon," she said in a more friendly way than Vert expected this early.

"Vert," he replied. He was nervous, trying to think about what to say in this situation. He tried to think about what Azure would, but quickly ruled out any of those possibilities.

"You're the leader of your team, right?" she asked. Vert was relieved to have something to break the silence.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"For some reason. Ozpin's choices for captain don't always make sense," she said, sounding a bit depressed.

"I'm with you there. I think he picks them based on the best team name and goes from there," he half joked, half complained.

"It seems that way," she said with a laugh. "Though it still doesn't explain me. Canary also begins with a C, and he'd be a much better leader than me," she said as her voice dropped in volume a bit before catching herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to start whining." Vert shook his head.

"I understand. I feel like the worst choice for leader in my team," he told her.

"You too, huh," she sighed. "I actually asked Ozpin the other day why he chose me," she started, suddenly taking on a much more dignified posture. "'It will all become clear with time,'" she said in a strikingly accurate depiction of the Headmaster.

"I figured he'd say something like that. Partly why I never bothered to ask." He continued

"Only partly?" Cinnamon asked, assuming a more joking tone.

"He's kind of unapproachable," Vert justified. "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy you could just walk up to. I'm surprised you could."

"Actually, I didn't. I spent over twenty minutes watching him trying to gather the nerve when he came up to me to ask what was wrong. It was the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me since I got here," she told him, trying to laugh it off.

"We've been here less than a month. There's plenty of more time to embarrass yourself," he told her in a reassuring tone. This triggered an infectious laugh in her that made it impossible for him not to chuckle along with. He hadn't had this much fun talking to someone else in a long time. It was nice.

The day that followed was long, far longer than anyone wanted. After the lesson with Professor Port, they had ethics with Professor Mane, creating a tag team of awful. Even serious students struggled not to have their minds wander and eyes droop. But this was redeemed by Professor Goodwitch's class, the one almost universally accepted to be the favorite as it was one of the only places where they could actually fight.

"Today, I have decided we should have a matchup of team captains," Goodwitch announced once class had started. Vert was immediately worried he'd have to fight Olive, a fear he imagined the other captains probably shared with him. "I'd like for all of you to please get ready and come into the arena." Vert stood up and, after giving a supportive nod from each of his teammates, headed to the changing room.

He felt more comfortable in his battle outfit than in his uniform. Still a hood, but it was green and black to go with the rest of his attire. He had a jacket that he only closed when it got cold, a regular black shirt underneath, and then a simple pair of pants. For the final touch, he attached his katars and returned to the area. To his surprise, he was the first one out.

Next was Olive, still with her air of confidence made somehow more infuriating by the knowledge he wouldn't be able to prove her wrong. With her was Beryl, whose pink colors stood out even more next to Olive's dark attire. The two were talking about something in a more friendly way than he thought most people would be with Olive. Coco wasn't far behind, dressed in the high fashion everyone had come to expect from her.

Siyah Sar, captain of team SURS, was out next. Strands of her brown hair stuck out from underneath her turban which covered most of her head. The rest of her outfit was a long and ornate coat and battle clothes. If Vert didn't know better, he would've mistaken her for a man. In her hand was a shortbow with a quiver of arrows on her back at about her waist level.

Amaranth Miel of AQMI was after her. Dark purple hair paired with the light and floaty shirt that was noticeably revealing her abdomen and cleavage. She had long pants of a similar airiness, and all was calm, pale green. Contrasting with her graceful appearance was the battle axe on her back.

Team FENT's Forest, the only other male leader in the year, came out. His outfit was rather simple, brown leather with several places covered by black metal plates. On his waist was a simple sword and pistol, matching his outfit.

The final captain was Cinnamon Stripe of CSIC. She had a light brown armor covering her entire body, but more lithe and streamlined than Beryl's. Most of her head was covered by a matching helmet, exposing only her mouth with slits where her would be. On her hands were a pair of silver spiked gauntlets that came up to about half her forearm, bulkier than the rest of the armor.

"Now that you're all here, we can begin the first match," Goodwitch announced. The eight watched as the board above them displayed the first names. "Mr. Nightshade, Ms. Stripe, you're up first."

Vert took his place on one side of the arena, with Cinnamon on the other. He closed his mind, and focused on the exact components he needed as he prepared his semblance.

"Begin!" Glynda declared. Vert triggered his semblance, causing his katars to glow bright green as he jumped forward. Cinnamon had the same idea and the two met in the middle. Her straight punch was dodged, but his counter slash was deflected by her remaining hand. They stayed at a textbook unsafe distance, Vert steadily circling her as he dodged her with his superior speed, but his own attacks either being blocked or harmlessly glancing off her armor. Neither of the combatants could get a good hit in.

Vert realized he wouldn't be able to win at this rate and jumped back. Cinnamon must've had the same realization as she jumped back at the same time. As his blades separated to reveal pistol barrels underneath, the spikes in her gauntlets retracted, revealing their own hidden firearms. He charged forward again, both of his wrist pistols firing rapidly. Her guns were basically a pair of triple barreled submachine guns, firing way more shots than him, but with noticeably less accuracy.

Their distance shrank again, and but this time Vert jumped forward at the last moment as his blades returned, throwing off the fight's rhythm. The opening was short, but long enough for him to score a string slash across her chest. As she stumbled backwards, he closed in again, landing several more blows in quick succession. While she recovered his balance, the fight had been decided. He knew they were incredibly close in ability and neither seemed to have a game changing move, so that damage he had inflicted there was enough to give him an edge. The fight lasted for a few more minutes with Vert steadily chipping away until a final string of blows brought her down for the count.

The loud buzzer sounded, marking the end of the fight. Vert took a few moments to catch his breath, but then offered a hand to the downed girl. She too took a moment to gather herself, but then accepted the help. "Well done Mr. Nightshade, Ms. Stripe," Goodwitch told them as she approached. "You both performed splendidly." They both nodded in acknowledgement and then returned to the stands.

The remaining fights went by quickly enough. Coco and Forest were next, and that wasn't a long battle at all. Forest was immediately outclassed by her minigun, and when he moved into melee, was thoroughly beaten. It helped drive home the knowledge that Vert and most everyone else already knew: Forest was probably the weakest person on the entire class.

Beryl and Siyah's fight was by far the most interesting. Beryl kept closing the distance with big jumps and attacking with wild swings while Siyah dodged and hopped away, unleashing arrows with her bow. In the protracted battle, Siyah won out with her range, but she had suffered some good hits and was clearly on her last legs.

The final fight was between Olive and Amaranth went exactly how he expected. Less than a minute later, Amaranth was sprawled out on the floor after failing to even touch her opponent. If Vert had to guess what she was thinking, she was probably just happy that since Cyrus, Olive hadn't sent anyone to the infirmary. People still weren't sure if she had learned to hold back or it had been on purpose in the first place.

After the class ended, VAPR gathered around their leader. "Great job," Azure praised him, patting him on the back. "I never lost faith in you."

"Says the guy who bet dinner on Cinnamon," Prism interjected. Azure took on a nervous faced as he retracted his hand.

"It goes against my policy to not root for a pretty lady," he quickly justified. "But know in my heart of hearts, I was truly wishing for our leader's success."

"I know in my stomach of stomachs I'm having seconds tonight," she told him.

"I said dinner, not dinners," he exclaimed, his voice rising back up to Azure volume.

"Then I'll get one dinner with double the portions," she told him.

"Fiend! Thief! Taking advantage of my giving nature!" He railed on as his partner seemed to ignore him.

"You were impressive," Redmond told him as the other two members pulled ahead of them.

"Thanks. Though I can't help but feel a little shown up by Olive," Vert commented.

"That's just how this place works. Birds fly, sun shines, we get shown up by Olive," he bemused. "And besides, your fights are a lot more interesting. Hers are just one-sided thrashings."

"They don't even serve lobsters here! I know because I keep asking for it!" Azure's voice suddenly brought their attention back to him.

"We should probably do something about that," Redmond said.

"Personally, I'm thinking of making him buy me dinner for betting against me," Vert joked. They followed their teammates to the cafeteria, talking over the fights that had happened.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Dear Arlensia, I thank you for blessing me with this meal. May your glory continue to guide me to peace and prosperity," Canary said quietly to himself while praying, all around him the sounds of people echoed around him. Most noticeable were the sounds of his teammates sitting at the table with him. He still was getting used to being the only one who regularly prayed. Back home, every meal in the great hall started with everyone praying together. He broke his hands apart to begin his meal.

"You and Vert were awesome in that fight," Silhouette said between bites. "You just kept blocking and dodging. It was so cool."

"It was a really satisfying fight," Cinnamon agreed. "If I had just gotten a single punch in, I probably could've won it."

"He doesn't look it, but he was cautious," Iris added. "He never sacrificed his defense in order to get a good hit in."

"What do you think Mr. Queen's Guard?" Silhouette asked. He had made the mistake of telling them about the Queen's Guard the night it was formed. By the end of the next day, everyone had heard of the new group.

"I think he had played to his strengths of quick reflexes and agility. Most people would have a hard time landing a blow against him at such close range," he explained.

"I feel a 'but' coming on," Silhouette interrupted. He stopped for a moment to give her a smile.

"However," he said with emphasis, causing Silhouette to stick her tongue out at him, "he's too used to those close up fights. His reaction time has gotten a lot worse any time a fight has gone long range. If you want to beat him, it's a simple matter of keeping your distance until you've put some damage on him."

"You know, it's impressive how you can make fighting sound dull," Silhouette told him, clearly bored by his explanation. Canary just gave his best smile to his problematic partner.

He found her curious, almost the antithesis of everything he had been raised to believe. He was trained to have the ability to fight, but equally valuable was control and mercy; truly a discipline. Yet Silhouette didn't share these ideas. She hated research and training to point where Canary had never her seen her do either. She fought with her fists because she thought designing and forging a proper weapon would be too much trouble. But she loved fights above anything. During the selection, they were the last pair to return because she attacked every Grimm she could find and even went on detours to find more. If not for her natural fighting abilities, he has no doubt she would have died long before they met.

"Have you guys started your papers yet?" Iris asked in order to change the subject. Silhouette groaned and had her head fall to the table.

"I've found the book I'm going to use and gotten down the main points," Canary replied.

"I stayed up late last night finishing it," Cinnamon told her. "I'm going to edit some more tonight."

"And the littlest member of CSIC?" Iris teased Silhouette. Funnily enough, while short comments had annoyed her the first day here, they lost any effect when she learned that Beryl was shorter by a whole inch and a half.

"I'm planning to go wipe out all the Grimm in a sector so all the information in your papers is wrong," she answered.

"If you can do that by the end of the week, I think they'll give your diploma," Cinnamon mused. Canary gave the girl a look, warning her not to encourage this behavior.

"Canary, bestest looking partner in the whole world…" she began to beg, giving him a look of pleading. He sighed, upset she could already make him do what she wanted. He just couldn't leave her alone.

"I have training tonight, so before that is fine," he told her, attempting to at least sound strict.

"Yay!" she shouted, abandoning to puppy dog eyes and rising back into sitting position. Cinnamon gave him the exact mirror of the look he had shown her only moments ago, which he shamefully looked away from.

After dinner, true to his word, Canary and Silhouette went to the library. Grimm migration patterns were an admittedly dull topic, and someone with as little work ethic as her had trouble just staying awake. However, with his persistence they eventually got the basis for her paper done.

"Thanks," she told him in a moment of gratitude, but that quickly fell away to her teasing him to go train with his queen. He listened, getting to the training roof a few minutes early. Today, they were going to continue Umbra's martial arts training. Olive insisted that they all know how to defend themselves unarmed in case it ever came to that. They emphasized kicks since that was Umbra's specialty and those were moves that could be mixed in while fighting with weapons. The hope was that it could add more diversity to their attack options.

"No, not like that," Umbra critiqued Eth. "You can't just swing your leg around wildly." She got in close, and used her hands to guide him into a proper stance. After her corrections, Canary could see the look on Eth's face, trying to burn the proper form into his memory.

"How's this?" Olive asked, performing the move Umbra had taught.

"It's a good kick, but your balance is off. If you didn't hit, it'd be easy for someone to throw you around," Umbra explained. She backed up and gave a quick demonstration. "Keep your balance leg straighter. It'll lessen your range, but you'll be more stable. And if you ever have to choose between the two: choose the second."

"That makes sense. Thank you," Olive said. Canary couldn't help but find the image of Olive being taught and critiqued strange, and he imagined he wasn't the only one who thought so. But seeing her so diligently practice these new moves gave him some insight into how she became so powerful.

"Excuse me," a new voice said. The Queen's Guard looked in the direction of the newcomer and saw Cyrus in full combat gear was there. Canary was surprised at how much more civilized he sounded than before.

"This is a surprise," Forest said. "Most people avoid this place while we're training."

"I wanted to ask if I could join the Queen's Guard," he told them, much to everyone's surprise.

"No," Olive flatly responded. "Only those that impress me can join."

"What about my battles in Glynda's classes? I haven't lost since you beat me," he tried to reason.

"That doesn't mean I'm impressed with your performance." Olive wasn't saying any of this with malice, but wasn't pulling any punches either. "Why do you even want to join?"

"Because you're all powerful, and it's the best way for me to become stronger," he answered. His earnest response surprised Canary. Until now, he had assumed he had almost as much pride as Olive.

"The whole purpose of this group is to assemble the strongest to help each other grow. If we let you in, we'd be abandon that." That comment almost made him wince with the brutality of it. Even her partner got no mercy.

"Give me a chance to prove it," he practically begged. Olive, in a surprising show of mercy, gave in.

"You'll fight someone I'll choose. Depending on your performance, I may change my mind," she told him, retrieving her scroll from her pocket.

"Okay. Who am I fighting?" Cyrus asked, becoming more enthusiastic and slightly sadistic in tone.

"I'm calling them over," she responded. After several tense minutes of waiting, the opponent arrived in his battle uniform.

"Redmond," Cyrus said in disbelief. Canary was with him in surprise. There were quite a few people stronger than him who hadn't already lost to Cyrus.

"If you want to back out, you can," she told him as she moved to the side along with the rest of the Queen's Guard.

"Of course not," he said confidently, taking his position on one side of the roof as Redmond took the other. Everyone tensely waited, no doubt wondering what having Cyrus in the Queen's Guard would be like. Forest stepped up for his role as judge. The two adopted their fighting poses in anticipation.

"Ready," he stated, raising his hands in the air. "Begin," he shouted, bringing them down.

Cyrus dashed towards Redmond, raising his hand for the other boy's face. He was about to make contact when his hand was stopped by Redmond catching his wrist. Cyrus, not expecting to be blocked, froze momentarily. Redmond took advantage of this by jerking his hand over his shoulder while delivering a straight punch to Cyrus's face. The sound of the impact was shortly followed by that of a shoulder dislocating.

Redmond let go, allowing Cyrus to stumble backwards. Not allowing a moment of recovery, Redmond's next punch hit the back of his head. The boy was sent crashing to the ground. He tried to stand up, but Redmond's sword swung down on him, sending him right back down.

"Stop!" Forest declared, putting down the scroll he had been using to monitor their aura. "Redmond is the winner."

"Congratulations Redmond," Olive told him as she approached. "To be perfectly honest, you surpassed my expectations."

"Training with Vert paid off," he sheepishly replied as he returned his weapon to his back.

"How did you get so much stronger?" Cyrus asked through ragged breath as he pulled himself up.

"I'm not that much stronger. I just knew you'd do the exact same thing as last time." Redmond returned his gaze to Olive. "Thanks for the opportunity."

"No problem. I'll call on you again if I need you." Redmond left after hearing this, leaving Cyrus to face his partner. "As I said before, we're the strongest. If you can't win against people not in the group, how can you compete against those that are?"

"It was a fluke," he desperately tried to justify. Olive wouldn't let him.

"You won the first time because of your uncommon tactics and element of surprise. But those don't work on the same opponent for long. Now that he knows how you fight, you can't win against him," she explained. He looked away from her, not saying anymore.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time," he said, turning and walking away. Judging by his heavy steps, he was probably going to go sleep in his room, if not somewhere along the way. Practice resumed after that, but people weren't as energetic as before. Olive called the session early, and most of the members left. Canary stayed behind to talk to the leader.

"Something to say Canary?" she asked once they were alone.

"I'm just trying to decide if you're kind or cruel," he explained. She responded with a smile.

"Pride can be useful. Mine keeps me working hard since I can't stand the thought of losing. But it can also stunt growth. His made him think he would always be superior to some people." She stopped her preaching in order to give him a chance to respond.

"So you destroyed his pride to motivate him is what you're saying."

"Precisely. He needs to be broken down and rebuilt." The casualness with which she said this helped remind him how brutal even her good intentions could be.

"Are you sure that's the best option? It might backfire," he tried to reason, but she wouldn't hear it.

"If this breaks him, then he shouldn't be a huntsman," she declared.

"For his sake, I hope you're right." He didn't feel like talking anymore, so he left her there to return to his dorm. He found Iris and Cinnamon were already asleep, but Silhouette was reading a comic book. They stayed up for a bit longer, talking quietly about nothing in particular. He found himself wondering if he'd be willing to do to her was Olive was doing to Cyrus. He shook his head, deciding instead that he would rather never answer that question.


	3. A Day Out of the Life

It occurs to me that some of the name pronunciations may be unclear, so I've created a handly little list for keeping track of them.

VAPR - Vapor  
OCEN - Ocean  
CSIC - Cosmic  
FENT - Florescent  
BEYL - Beryl  
SURS - Sunrise  
AQMI - Aquamarine  
CFVY - Coffee

Now that we've got that out of the way, enjoy chapter 3 of Above and Below.

* * *

"C'mon, let's go already," Prism complained as Azure admired himself in the store mirror. She was starting to forget what life was like before he took her shopping.

"It's nice," he told the attendant while ignoring his partner, "but do you have it in a smaller size?"

"I believe we do. Let me go check," she answered as she ducked out of the area. Azure removed the elegant coat he had been trying on and hung it on a nearby peg.

"I doubt you'll ever even wear this stuff," Prism continued, pointing at the three bags of clothing he had already bought from other stores.

"Clothes are like attacks: it's best to have as many options as possible," he told her. "Afterall, who knows what will happen down the line? I need to be prepared."

"You're supposed to be a Huntsman, not a model," she continued. "You know, going to far off places, saving people, slaying Grimm."

"Whoever said I can't do all that and look great at the same time?" The attendant rushed back into the room, a new garment in hand. Azure quickly took it and put it on, dramatically sweeping his hair out of the way of the clothing. "Perfect," he sighed, turning to see himself from every angle in the mirror. "I'll take it."

"Will that be all sir?" she asked him as she helped him remove the coat.

"Yes, I think we're done here," he answered, handing her his card. She stepped away to bag the item and make the charge. Azure walked back over to Prism and retrieved his normal coat from where it was hanging.

"Are we finally done?" Prism asked, half in hope and half in dread.

"I would like to look around more," he started, watching her expression turn to despair, "but that can wait for another day. You have to save some fun for another day."

"If that's what you want to call it," she groaned. "Can we go get the lunch you promised me?"

"Once I get my bag, we'll be on our way." As if on cue, the attendant returned with his clothes and card.

"Thank you. Please come again," she told him as she handed them to him.

"Thank you for your assistance," he replied before escorting Prism out the door.

"I thought I'd die in there," she said happily as she stretched to the sky. "Where are we eating?"

"There's a restaurant I've heard good things about. I plan on testing it out before I get to take a date there."

"So I'm your test date?" She was less than thrilled about that proposition.

"Consider it a taste and atmosphere test instead," he replied. She found that acceptable. That's when Azure seemed to noticed someone standing outside a nearby store. "Beryl" he called out to her as they approached.

"Hello Mr. Aracheli. It's good to see you," she said with a bow.

"I thought I told you stop calling me that," he scolded as forcefully straightened her.

"But...but," she stammered.

"No buts. Az-ure," he said his name slowly, encouraging her to repeat it.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Prism asked, interrupting them.

"I know all the beautiful ladies in the kingdom," Azure answered with a dramatic flourish. "As such, of course Beryl and I are the closest of friends."

"My family is performers. They appeared at the Aracheli's hotels fairly often," she explained, ignoring Azure's explanation.

"Oh, performers? What kind?" Prism brightened up as she asked.

"They mainly do music for shows, but in practice they can do basically anything," she replied, brightening up.

"Do you play with them?"

"When I was with them I did, though now it's not really possible," she answered.

"So you're a musician," Prism stated with a surprising amount of joy.

"No no, nothing as grand as that. I can play the notes as they're written, but that's all. Musicians are people who can add their original touch to the music or their own pieces entirely," she countered.

"Nonsense," Azure interjected, reminding the girls he was there. "I've seen you on the harp. It's an angelic sight."

"The harp?" Prism said in surprise.

"Yeah, that's the instrument I play. And I only look that way because of a trick. My dad treated it with wind dust so when I'm playing it, my hair and clothes float a little. And my outfit has just a little fire dust so it glows. It's not much, but it really adds to the experience," she explained, really getting into the discussion.

"That has nothing to do with it. It's was all your beauty and talent," he asserted, being weirdly defensive of his position. Beryl laughed at this.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting your guys' date?" She said with surprise.

"No," Prism said immediately and flatly. To her relief, Azure didn't insist that it was. "We were actually-"

"About to head into this store," Azure interrupted, gesturing to the building they were outside of. "Beryl, would you do us the honor of joining us?"

"Are you sure I won't be interfering?" Even with Prism's denial, she still seemed to think it was a date.

"You could only improve our day out. And after we finish here, I'll treat you to lunch," he told her. She clearly knew Azure well enough to know she wouldn't be escaping, so she joined the partners and entered the store. As soon as she was enthralled with some of the clothes, Prism pulled Azure aside.

"I thought you said we were done," she said through grated teeth.

"I'm done, Beryl's not," he told her.

"Meaning?" She was getting very tired of the blonde

"Did you see the clothes she was eyeing in the mirror? Or looking at right now?" he asked. She stopped and tried to remember. "Go over and see."

Prism listened to him, going back over to the girl. She was looking through dresses, similar to the ones that might be worn in a music performance. She suddenly started to put the pieces together. She turned around to find Azure had disappeared somewhere.

"What do you think of this one?" Beryl asked the taller girl, reaching for a deep red one.

"It's nice, but I think this one," Prism reached for a blue one close to it, "would suit you better."

"Really?" Beryl asked, looking it over. "I think you're right. I'll go try it on." She gently took it off the shelf and rushed over to the changing room. Not long after, she stepped out.

"You look stunning," Prism told her, really meaning it. Beryl blushed a bit as she turned towards the nearby mirror. It wasn't revealing, but went along well with her build. The color went surprising well with her, creating a beautiful and innocent image.

"Wow, this really does look great," she said, almost to herself. She turned around slowly, admiring it at all angles. "It's not often I can find one that fits this well."

"Is it really that hard?" Prism asked, looking at all the choices around them.

"Unless I'm looking at kid's clothes, yeah. Not a whole lot of options for people my size," she explained, still admiring the dress.

"I can relate," Prism said, turning to show off her tail. "Not a lot of designs incorporate massive snake tail holes."

"I think they have a selection here for tailed Faunus here," Beryl said, breaking away from the mirror.

"I didn't mean I needed to get one," she tried to divert. She had managed to go the whole day without being sucked in by Azure, but now her wallet might be in serious danger.

"You helped me. Let me help you," she told her. Still in the blue dress, she took Prism by the hand over to the Faunus section to begin their search.

"I'm surprised you're so familiar with Azure. I wouldn't think working at a hotel occasionally got you close to the owner's kid," Prism started while sifting through racks.

"He came to the shows, but I didn't really get to know him until about a year and a half ago when he started dating my sister, Ice," Beryl explained, picking up a dress but quickly putting it back down. Prism had stopped moving.

"He's dating your sister? And flirts with you that much?" She whipped her head around, looking for his head so she could remove it. Beryl just laughed.

"Dated. They broke up when he got into Beacon. And before you get angry, it was her idea," she told her. "And he's always been a flirt. It doesn't really mean anything. Though Davyne and Graphite wouldn't believe that."

"Who?"

"They're my older brothers. They hated Azure," she answered, dragging out the word hate. "I think I found one," she announced, holding up a dress. Prism was still digesting what she had been told, so she just grabbed it and went for the changing room. A few minutes later, she stepped out in a long, figure hugging yellow dress. It was bright and would definitely stand out, but went along with her tail.

"You look gorgeous," Beryl told her. She wasn't used to these, and it would definitely be uncomfortable to be in for any extended length of time, but she couldn't deny she liked how she looked in it. "You should buy it," Beryl said excitedly.

"I saw the price tag. I can't afford this. Still, it's nice to look," she said, posing for the mirror.

"Don't worry about the price," Azure declared, appearing as if from nowhere. "I've already paid for both of your dresses." Prism stared at him in disbelief while Beryl just smiled.

"I won't be able to pay you back, you know," she told him.

"You already have with that beautiful appearance," he told her. She immediately felt self conscious of her body and tried to turn away from him. "Why, as a member of the Aracheli family, my father would be ashamed of me for not buying you those dresses."

"I've met his father, and I can believe that," Beryl commented. "Thank you Azure."

"Yeah, thanks," Prism said a bit reluctantly.

"I'm happy I could help," he declared. "Now we should probably hurry and get to lunch." The girls didn't disagree, and went to the changing rooms. Minutes later, they stepped out in their normal clothes. The dresses were bagged, and the trio was on their way.

The restaurant they went to was fantastic. Prism had never been to a place like that before, and found herself indulging. Beryl and Azure were similarly plowing through their food. Dessert followed, and it was similarly delicious. All the while, Beryl told stories about her family and Azure made mostly stupid comments with the occasional good insight. Prism mainly asked more questions, finding she didn't need to talk as much. She was surprised how talkative Beryl could be, having figured her to be the shy, quiet type.

Once they were all finished and Azure had paid, they made their way back to Beacon. At the dorms, Beryl parted in order to head back to her room, leaving the partners alone.

"Thanks for today. I enjoyed it," Prism told him. She had to admit it was a lot more fun than she expected.

"Ah, I see you have fallen for my charms," he said dramatically. "Sadly, as I belong to all women of the world, I cannot promise myself to you."

"I'll try not cry," she bit back sarcastically, but adopting a playful smile. For the first time, she had a strong idea of who her partner was. He was an idiot who's far more observant than he seems and is always trying to lighten the mood and make people smile. And if she was going to be honest with herself and only herself, that may actually be the type of partner she needs.

"Vert, Redmond, you'll never believe what I saw today," Azure sang as he entered the room. "Prism in a dress."

"Impossible," the two answered simultaneously.

"Exactly, it's impossible," Prism agreed, slipping the dress bag into her closet.

"Not if I, in all my wisdom, would use my scroll to capture such an image!" he yelled as he opened his scroll, the image of Prism in the yellow dress becoming visible to the others.

"Wow," Vert said quietly.

"You look nice," Redmond complimented. Prism ignored this, instead lashing out at Azure in a desperate attempt to get her hands on his scroll.

"Delete that!" she demanded, grabbing for it only for Azure to sidestep away.

"I'm only trying to allow more people to experience your beauty as I have," he explained, dodging another blow.

"I will destroy that if it's the last thing I do," she declared. Even if he was the partner she needed, he certainly wasn't the partner she wanted.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

"Two for me," Iris said triumphantly as the ball rolled into the hole. Cinnamon marked it down on the record pad they were using. They were approaching the end with Canary and Iris neck and neck, Cinnamon close behind, and…

"Who's idea was it to play mini-golf?" Silhouette complained, not even wanting to look at her score.

"Yours," Cinnamon replied.

"Then why didn't any of you object?" she continued, swinging her putter around.

"I thought it sounded fun. A team CSIC day out," Iris told her. "Though that," she pointed over to Canary, venom seeping into her voice, "I could do without."

"Yeah," Cinnamon agreed, her voice sounding like Iris's. Silhouette just glared in his direction. With Canary were two girls and one guy, all three attempting to get his number.

"I don't think this would bug me as much if it wasn't all the guys too," Iris growled. Cinnamon couldn't argue with that. While she didn't like being hit on, she couldn't help but feel like she had somehow lost by not having a single guy approach her.

"This makes twelve and four," Silhouette set in an annoyed voice.

"Girls and guys?" Iris asked.

"The ones who've hit on him. Ones who checked him out is much higher," she answered.

"I'm sorry about that," Canary apologized to the girls. It seems he had made his excuses and left the ones hitting on him.

"I'm thinking you should start wearing your robe when we're out," Iris told him. "Maybe fewer people would hit on you."

"You'd be surprised," he replied with a wry grin. "Not to mention, people who know about the Followers of Arlensia aren't dissuaded."

"Do you guys have a good reputation?" Cinnamon asked. While his order had a decent number of members, they mainly kept to themselves, leaving most people, or at the very least Cinnamon, unclear about their beliefs.

"No celibacy or abstinence," he answered. "So the robe doesn't do much to dissuade then." The girls were all surprised to hear this, with Silhouette's expression clearly presenting this.

"You're not?" Iris said in surprise.

"But we all assumed…" Cinnamon trailed off as she became much more aware of the fact that she had been living in the same room as a guy. Memories started to come to her of things she would never have let him see if she had known.

"So I should've been flirting with you for real and not as a joke," Silhouette complained.

"If it makes you feel better, I can't tell the difference," Canary comforted her. She didn't seem relieved by this knowledge.

"You know, you probably should've told us this at some point," Iris told him in an almost scolding voice.

"I didn't know people assumed that until a week ago when a girl approached me," he explained. "Before then, I never thought people would think that."

"I guess you're right," Iris said in an apologetic tone. "It's our fault for not asking."

Cinnamon was having a hard time listening as she was focusing on her memories. She couldn't decide what was the worst thing she had done. She took the moment to look at Canary as she thought this through this. His hair was a little messy, but always in a way that looked good on him. His face was model level and wouldn't have looked out of place on a magazine cover. His was tall and had toned muscle everywhere it mattered. Even in his casual clothes, he wore them so well it might as well been a picture from a magazine. While it was almost universally accepted that Canary and Rouge were the best looking people in their year, but she had suddenly became incredibly conscious of this fact.

"So, this is the last hole," Silhouette said aloud, breaking Cinnamon from her thoughts.

"I wonder which of us will win," Iris said to Canary, having returned to her usual demeanor.

"I'll win on this hole," Silhouette promised her, breaking into their conversation.

"I don't think that's possible," Iris replied, leaning over to Cinnamon to check the score card.

"I mean I'll do better on this hole than any of you," she explained, sounding fed up and immature.

"You haven't been able to do that so far. What makes this one special?" Iris was sounding increasing skeptical, but also curious.

"I just know, and I'm willing to bet on that ," she declared.

"Hmm," Iris wondered aloud. "Okay, I'll take that bet. Whoever gets the best score on this hole gets Canary for all of tomorrow."

"Do I get a say in this?" Canary asked, though in a way that made it seem like he didn't really care.

"Think of it as a way of apologizing for making us wait for you so much," she told him. He smiled, showing he had no further objections. "Don't worry Cinnamon, you can be in on this too," she said, turning to the other girl.

"Okay," she answered. While she kept her tone under control, she couldn't deny there was something exciting about this.

"Time to win my prize," Silhouette said confidently as she placed her ball on the green and prepared herself. She hadn't even gotten par on any of the previous courses, so Cinnamon wasn't expecting much.

She hit the ball with more force than was expected, and they watched as it when careening into a wall. But it bounced perfectly off and through the obstacles. Like a pinball, it bounced around and between everything, eventually arriving at the final green. It rolled slowly towards the hole, slowing as it approached, only to stop a hair away from falling in

"Wow," Cinnamon said, turning to compliment her teammate, only to find she wasn't where she had been standing but rather six feet in the air. It was then Cinnamon remembered that the hoodie she was wearing, dark gray with light blue and brown swirling lines across it, was part of her battle outfit. Silhouette hit the ground with her fist, sending out a shockwave through the ground that almost knocked the rest of the team to the ground. On the other side of the course, her ball fell into the hole.

"Hole-in-one," she said triumphantly as she struck a victory pose.

"There is no way in hell that isn't cheating," Iris shot back at her.

"I never saw the rule forbidding the use of earthquakes," Silhouette taunted.

"Even so," Iris started, but she didn't know how to continue. Instead, the rest of them played the hole. Cinnamon got it in three, Canary in four, and Iris in six.

"Even if you count my innocent little trick as a stroke, it's still my win," Silhouette declared. As much as Cinnamon wanted to disqualify her for that, she couldn't disagree.

"So it looks like I'm spending tomorrow with Silhouette," Canary said. He didn't sound like it really mattered to him, speaking with his usual cheerful tone. Iris didn't look too happy, but she didn't seem like she was going to raise a complaint.

"I've already got our date all planned out," she said smugly, as if trying to get a rise out of the other girls.

"Silhouette, I was wondering, did you finish the paper that's due for Oobleck's class on Monday?" Cinnamon asked, changing the subject. When her face turned to a look of horror, she got her answer.

"I completely forgot about that," she whined.

"Looks like we'll have to change up the plans for our date then," Canary said with a laugh.

"Yes please," Silhouette said with resignation. The quartet returned to Beacon after that, with Silhouette making a beeline for the library, her partner in tow. Cinnamon and Iris returned to the room. Along the way, they ran into Vert and ended up going to VAPR's room. They spent the time hanging out with their friends, enjoying Prism's comments about her and Azure's shopping trip earlier that day. She and Iris traded complaints about their teammates the rest sat back and listened. It was a nice end to a fun day, one of the few non violent ones that they had had in awhile, and not unwelcome in the least.

* * *

Thanks for reading. As always, reviews are always appreciated and do a surprising amount to inspire myself and other writers and help us grow.


	4. Unknowing Audition

"I need a map. I got lost in your eyes," Azure said romantically.

"That outfit would look great on my bedroom floor," Silhouette responded.

"Do you have any wind dust? Because you just took my breath away," Azure replied, posing dramatically as he did.

"Are you in one of my classes? I could've sworn we had chemistry," Silhouette told him.

"Some of us are trying to eat," Iris interrupted the duo. Team VAPR and team CSIC were having lunch together like they always did when Silhouette and Azure decided to trade pick up lines.

"Nope, that would never work," Silhouette told her.

"Like any of your lines would," she snapped back. "And if they did, you wouldn't want to be with that person in the first place."

"You know, you take all the fun out of things," Silhouette complained, resting her head on the table. Vert was amused by this situation. Every day usually had Azure and Silhouette doing or saying something stupid, followed by Iris getting them to stop.

It was interesting how familiar the two teams had gotten in these few months. In fact, all eight of the freshman teams had effectively paired off into four super teams. There was VAPR and CSIC, OCEN and FENT, AQMI and BEYL, and SURS and CFVY. While they all had friends outside of these pairs, there was no doubt as to what the major groups were.

"It's hard to believe first semester will be over soon, isn't it," Cinnamon said, trying to draw Iris and Silhouette's attention away from each other.

"There's still a full month they're going to fill with homework," Prism answered.

"Don't remind me," Silhouette groaned. Of all eight of them, she was the only one that truly struggled with the class work.

"You'll do fine. After all, you've made it this far," Redmond comforted the girl, though she didn't cheer up at this. "And we'll still help you."

"That's what I wanted to hear," she said, immediately perking up. "You guys are the best."

"Enablers," Cinnamon added with a look of disappointment.

"Who helped her copy math last week again?" Iris asked, sending the same judging look at her captain.

"I never said I was innocent either," she returned. Iris's face turned to turned to a guilty smile, admitting the same thing.

"We should probably get moving," Vert commented with a look to the clock. They had Glynda's class next, and they didn't want to be late for today. For the first time, they would be having 4v4 matches. They were looking forward to some intense fights with everyone wanting to know who would be fighting whom. They also had to leave early since everyone needed to be in their battle uniform for today. After they all got changed in the locker room, it was onto the classroom.

It wasn't too long until the rest of the class was there. And although they were just sitting and waiting, Vert couldn't deny how impressive his classmates all looked decked out for battle. It was something he hadn't seen since the day they all were divided into teams in the forest. And now that he had learned what they all were capable of, it only made them more impressive.

"Welcome class," Glynda greeted like usual. "As you all know, today we will be holding team matches in order to prepare you for the Vytal Festival." There was a shiver of anticipation going through the crowd. Vert couldn't help but wonder if it was possible that someone would be able to beat OCEN. If they could outperform her teammates, even she couldn't win a 4v1. Probably. "Without any further waiting, we will determine the matchups." Above, the match wheel started spinning. Instead of portraits like usual, it was the team names. After what felt like a longer wait than usual, the wheel stopped.

"Team CSIC and Team BEYL," Glynda announced. The two teams wasted no time getting into the arena and getting to opposite sides. On CSIC's side, Canary was in his robe and Cinnamon in her armor, both prepared. Silhouette was in an outfit very similar to Vert's with a hoodie and plain pants, though her hood was down, showing off her dark gray hair. Iris wore a beautiful dress that made her look like an exotic dancer. In both of her hands were parts of a long cloth that seemed to float around her.

On the other side, Beryl had her greatsword out and ready. Her teammates were also in battle positions. Ebony was in the back in her dark blouse and skirt, sniper rifle in hand. Yolanda stood next to Beryl up front in her purple armor, a spear and shield at the ready. The final member, Li-Mei, was in between the front and back lines. She had no apparent weapon, and her oriental dress was cut at the knees with long sleeves, creating an interesting contrasting look.

On the screen above them, each of the competitor's name and aura levels were displayed. "Ready," Glynda started, raising her hands in the air, "Begin!" At her words, the front lines dove for each other. Beryl, thanks to her sword's reach, made the first attack of a low swing at Canary. The boy swiftly jumped in the air to dodge, only to find himself getting hit in the chest from Ebony's bullet.

"CSIC really is weak at range," Redmond commented to Vert as they watched Canary recover.

"If they can't take out Ebony quickly, it's going to turn out badly for them," Vert agreed. The two front liners of BEYL were engaged with the three of CSIC when Li-Mei began to create streams of water all around her, steadily swirling it as they grew in volume. Beryl with her wide range and Yolanda's ability to constantly be in the enemy's way and blocking along with Ebony's cover fire, concentrated mostly on Canary, made reaching Li-Mei impossible.

After several seconds of buildup, Li-Mei suddenly sent the water in two paths to either side of her. The liquid surged in an arc to hit CSIC from either side but miss Beryl and Yolanda. "Sil left, Iris right!" Cinnamon yelled. On cue, the girls got on either side of the formation. Iris, almost as if she was painting, moved her arms up down, directing her cloth into a large square directly in path of the water. When she had finished shaping it, the cloth immediately solidified. Silhouette gathered power in her hand, waiting for the impact. As it reached her, she punched it, freezing the water into a giant lump of ice. On Iris's side, her shield deflected the entirety of the water.

With two of the members of CSIC providing defense, BEYL tried to push the advantage by charging Canary along with Ebony's bullets. Watching from above, Vert couldn't help but to admire their teamwork. This didn't look like some idea they were coming up with on the fly, but rather a carefully formulated and practiced strategy. They must've decided from the beginning to target Canary with the hopes of eliminating the Queen's Guard member first.

As Canary was pushed back, deftly defending himself with his rods, Cinnamon surged forward, narrowly blocking a spear lunge from Yolanda and charging towards Li-Mei. She stopped channeling her large streams of water, instead unleashing several smaller blades of it at Cinnamon. Cinnamon, using dodges and punches, got through and into melee range of the other girl. Li-Mei changed her hands' position as long, thin metal spikes popped out from under her wrists. She lunged for Cinnamon, narrowly missing. Lacking the agility of more close combat oriented fighters, she was unable to get out of the way of Cinnamon's punch, sending her rolling back.

With the water stopped, Iris and Silhouette returned to the fight. "Iris, support Cinnamon!" Canary ordered. The dancer girl obeyed, running off in her captain's direction while Silhouette jumped to her partner's aid. She aimed at Yolanda, leaving Canary to focus on Beryl.

Iris arrived by Cinnamon just in time to throw out her cloth and harden it to protect Iris from one of Ebony's bullets. Closing in on the others, Iris straightened her cloth out to harden it into a long, wide blade. Her swing was even larger than Beryl's, sending her opponents diving to avoid it. This gave Cinnamon the opportunity to get closer to Li-Mei as she recovered from the dodge. She sent several more punches into the defenseless girl, leading to a buzzing sound. Vert looked at the screen, seeing Li-Mei's aura had fallen into the red. And unless Ebony had some ace up her sleeve, she imagined that it wouldn't be long before she joined her teammate.

Ebony's sniper rifle shortened, the barrel becoming the blade of her ninjato. As Cinnamon attacked her teammate, she took the chance to dive at Iris, swing for her head. Iris responded by raising her arm covered in the thin cloth. But when the blade made contact, it was stopped, the clothing having become as hard as armor. Iris kicked back while throwing out her cloth, forcing Ebony to dodge the fabric. Before she could attack again, Cinnamon was beating down on her.

It was surprising how much trouble Canary was having against Beryl, though Vert could see why. Her wide range made it difficult to approach and her small frame made her a hard target to hit with so much of her covered by the blade. Every swing she threw had incredible force behind it. If Canary dodged, he couldn't get close enough before the next. If he blocked, it took a similar amount of time to recover. She may be mostly brute force, but it was enough to keep him at bay. But Canary didn't seem concerned, content to play it safe.

Silhouette punched Yolanda repeatedly, but always hit her shield instead of the girl herself. using her height, she lowered her stance further, making all her attacks feel like they were coming from below. Her relentless assault forced the other girl to jump back, creating the opening she needed. Silhouette punched to ground, causing a rift and jagged rocks to appear where Yolanda was landing. She lost her footing, and Silhouette was right there to take advantage of it. Yolanda's buzzer sounded, followed shortly by Ebony's.

Beryl found herself suddenly in an unfavorable situation. CSIC had returned, surrounding her on all sides. Cinnamon attacked first as the other three stayed back. Beryl swung, forcing the other girl to jump back. But at her sword reached the slowest point in its swing, Iris's cloth wrapped around it and solidified, ruining her stance and preventing a follow up attack. The remaining members of CSIC closed in, each landing enough blows to cause the fourth and final buzzer.

"And that's the match. Team CSIC is the winner," Glynda announced. The winning team gathered together in a circle to congratulate each other while the more tired looking members of team BEYL pulled themselves up in a much more dejected manner. They eight participants made their way back up to the seating area. All throughout the room, people were discussing what they had just witnessed as Glynda returned the arena to its previous state.

"We will now move on to the second match," she announced as the names started scrolling on screen above. It felt just as long as normal this time as the decision was made. Vert felt not just his, but his entire team's stomachs drop.

"Team VAPR and team OCEN," Glynda announced. The teams made their way down through different stairways, with Vert taking the time for an impromptu strategy meeting.

"We need to avoid Olive and rush the other three," he told his team.

"I believe Cyrus is the weakest as long as you don't allow for skin to skin contact," Redmond followed up.

"Keep your defenses up right at the start. Don't underestimate Elvas's speed," Vert continued. "If he starts the fight by getting close, we should all immediately try to put some damage on him. Otherwise, Prism and Azure will help me separate Cyrus from the group and eliminate him while Redmond tries to keep the others back." He turned to his partner with an apologetic look. "With luck, we'll be able to take him out and get back to you before you suffer any serious injuries."

"Got it," Prism responded.

"We'll do you proud," Azure assured him.

"Let's win this," Redmond stated with all the conviction he could muster. They exited the stairs and walked onto their side of the arena as OCEN did the same. VAPR assumed a diamond formation with Vert at point, Azure in the back, and Redmond and Prism at the sides. OCEN took on a square with Neon and Elvas up front and Olive and Cyrus in the back.

Prism was in clothes of a black base, but with diamonds forming lines up and down the surface. Her weapon was long bronze pole with openings on either end. Azure wore an overly fancy blue coat and an oversized wide brimmed blue hat adorned with a large red feather. In his left hand was a long, thin golden chain attached to a pocket watch in his right.

Neon wore light green padded armor that went from neck to toe. Covering both of his forearms were shields of a darker green. His partner was wore similar dull gray leather armor. His left shoulder had a large, multilayer pad covering with the rest of the arm being similarly reinforced. His right arm was bare except for a shoulder pad and the large gauntlet reaching almost his elbow, but this was mostly concealed by the large lance he held in that hand. The two were also wearing an article of clothing VAPR had never seen before: matching blue gray cloaks.

"Ready," Glynda said, raising her hand as VAPR raised their guard, "begin." Vert knew he didn't have too much time as his katars began to glow green. He heard something that sounded like the ground being punched followed by a flash of color. He slipped to the side as Elvas stopped in front of him, his lance where Vert's head had been a moment ago. He tried to counter attack, but Elvas jumped back a few feet, landing safely out of range.

This had been what they were expecting, and he knew they had to act now if they wanted even a chance at winning. Elvas's risk had turned against him, though Vert knew that if he had targeted anyone else on the team, it would've been a severe injury in Redmond or Prism's case and an elimination in Azure's. But Vert didn't waste time to allow the other boy to recover, and dashed forward. He could hear his teammates behind him doing the same.

"Azure!" he yelled right before reaching Elvas as he suddenly rolled to the side. A second later, Azure's golden chain flew past him and at the target. He saw Redmond had his sword out and was moving to Elvas's flank. Prism was almost in position, a foot long flame sustained at the end of her pole like it was a blowtorch. If this hit, it would throw him off balance and make him wide open.

Before the chain could reach him, a large glyph appeared between the two. Green and with an ornate shield in the middle, the chain bounced harmlessly off of it. As swiftly as it appeared, it vanished. Vert knew that was Neon's semblance, but had no idea he could materialize it so far from his body.

"Now!" He ordered, sooner than they had practiced. He saw Neon's stocky frame approaching, quicker than one would assume he was, and had to act now. Prism and Redmond were thrown off by the unexpected order, and found themselves slowing down to change orientation. By the time they were able to get close, it was too late. Elvas redirected Prism's pole and Redmond's sword one of Neon's shields.

"Christmas barrage!" Vert ordered, embarrassed by Azure's absurd naming of the formation. Prism fell back, allowing her captain to take her place. Redmond and Vert attacked their individuals for a few moments before a series of arrows made of wind came flying at them from Azure and several fireballs from Prism. Neon and Elvas, in perfect sync, fell back until Neon was able to erect a single glyph, blocking all of the dust attacks. The glyph was huge, more than ten feet across. The resulting small explosions destroyed some of the stone tiles beneath, creating a dust cloud.

"Prism, flamethrower!" he called to her. If she put out a continuous stream of fire, Neon would be forced to keep the glyph up to block that. From what he had seen, it seemed like he could only make one at a time. But before they had a chance to act on this, Elvas slid out of the cloud. With another noise like a punch to the ground, he lunged. Instead of aiming at Vert, he hit Prism. While her aura barrier kept her from being impaled, he didn't stop and continued to fly forward until he caused Prism to smash into Azure with destructive force. Two buzzers sounded as their auras dropped into the red.

Vert jumped towards him, hoping to land a blow before Elvas could recover. But Neon appeared in his way, deflecting his blows and sending him back. Neon then turned, extending his arm toward Redmond and revealing the shotgun that existed between his arm and his shield. He fired twice, forcing Redmond to adopt a defensive stance as well. This gave Elvas enough time to recover, and get back into the fight.

Elvas didn't use his high powered dash, but showed he had power and speed without it as he launched an unrelenting series of strikes at Redmond. Redmond tried to avoid and block them, but hit after hit got through his defenses. Vert was also struggling with his opponent. No matter the angle he came at or attack he tried, every strike was blocked by those shields. The third buzzer went off, signaling Redmond's defeat

Vert turned to look at Redmond and Elvas, only to see the opponent was already gone. Vert glanced around briefly before looking up to see him in the air, crouching against Neon's floating glyph. The surprise and closer distance meant when Elvas did his dive, Vert couldn't completely avoid it. He caught it with his shoulder, sending him flying backwards. Neon was up in his face instantly, bashing away with his shields.

The final buzzer sounded, marking the end of the match. As Glynda made her announcement, Vert looked up to see what angered him to no end: Olive and Cyrus standing at the edge of the arena, weapons not even drawn. They hadn't even participated. At that moment, he felt like an ant compared to Olive. She was an insurmountable titan to him, but he was even important enough for her to register his existence. In his whole life, he had never felt so weak. He pulled himself up and gathered with his teammates to check on them.

"I guess this confirms what I heard," Redmond groaned as they got together, heading for the stairs.

"What?" Azure asked, his usual energy lowered considerably but not completely absent.

"That Elvas and Neon have trained together for years as a tag team. There's no other way they could be so coordinated after only a few months," he explained. Vert agreed, but didn't speak. He was too angry at his own shortcomings to say anything. When they reached the seating area, he felt as if all twenty-four pairs of eyes were on him, burrowing into his skin with judgement and condemnation. Even though he knew they weren't, that these were his classmates and friends, the feelings wouldn't go away. He had failed as a huntsman and as a leader.

Vert barely registered the next two matches of AQMI vs CFVY and SURS vs FENT. He could tell both were close, with only Mint standing and winning it for AQMI while Umbra and Eth had performed a mutual knockout, ending in a tie. But he didn't focus on them. In his head, the fight with OCEN was on repeat in his head. Every move he made, from the attacks to the way he stepped, was evaluated and critiqued.

Class ended not long after that. Vert didn't wait for his teammates, instead heading off to the archives on his own. It didn't take long to find the videos of the fight and began watching each recording at all of the different camera angles. He had a notebook out that he scribbled anything he noticed. Next time he thought. Next time I'll force her to take notice of me.

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

The library late at night, mostly abandoned by all but the hardest working and those that had procrastinated until the last second. In one of the back tables, away from the few souls there, a group of six was sitting.

"Well done in your battles today," Olive told all of the Queen's Guard. "I think all of you showed considerable improvement since our arrival."

"Says the one who didn't fight," Umbra complained.

"I wanted to give Elvas and Neon a chance to show off. They rarely get an opportunity to fight together," Olive explained. This seemed to satisfy Umbra, who's annoyed expression softened.

"I would like to build on the matter we discussed last time in regards to recruiting more people to the Queen's Guard. Is everyone still in favor?" She looked around, none of the others giving any hint of disagreement. "If that's no issue, I'd like to begin a discussion on who to bring in. I don't think we should make any final decisions until after the Vytal Festival, but I want to know where everyone's thoughts are at."

"Elvas and Neon," Mint said first. "They're incredibly capable. They'd fit in."

"I think Olive must have a reason for not having brought them in before," Canary interjected. Olive nodded to this.

"They're good, but didn't really fit my vision for the Queen's Guard. I wanted to refine individual strength whereas they focus on their team strength," she explained.

"You only used past tense," Mint pointed out.

"Now that we're more firmly established, I agree they would make a strong addition," Olive agreed. "But I still want to wait on making final decisions."

"I think it's unanimous for Neon and Elvas," Eth started, "but what about Iris? I couldn't believe how easily she manipulated that cloth of hers."

"It's name is Dreamweave. It's a special cloth infused with various types of dust to respond better to her control," Forest explained, looking over data he had in his scroll. "Combined with her semblance, "harden," she can make both it and those light clothes of hers virtually indestructible."

"It's a good example of making the most out of a shitty semblance," Umbra commented.

"In terms of technical skills and versatility, it'll be hard to find better," Olive said. "Any more?"

"Nero," Umbra answered. "He's fast, strong, and a deadeye with that revolver of his. Plus, the way he sticks only to using that gun gives me the impression he's hiding his fangs."

"I get that impression too, though as his captain I haven't seen any secrets like that," Forest responded, again using his scroll.

"Same here. And if Tsukiko's seen something, she hasn't said anything to us," Eth added.

"I don't want to bring someone aboard because we think they've got some secret strength. Let's wait and see in regards to him," Olive decided. As before, no one had any objections.

"What about Coco?" Forest asked. "Strength enough to wield that minigun and crush people with her handbag."

"It's a great option against slower enemies, but when I fought her she was too stubborn about using it," Umbra countered.

"She has a powerful weapon, but she's too reliant on it," Eth joined in.

"If we're talking strength, we can't do better than Beryl," Canary said. "Each blow from her felt more like a truck than a sword."

"She's purely self trained as well. Some more formal knowledge would probably work wonders on her abilities," Forest droned on.

"I'd love to have her," Mint chimed in, perking up at the discussion of the pink girl.

"What about you?" Canary asked Olive. "Anyone you have in mind?"

"Vert," she answered, much to the obvious surprise of the rest of the group. "His reflexes and agility are top notch, with the stamina to back up his defensive fighting style."

"He's not bad, I can agree with that much, but I don't think he's at our level," Umbra retorted.

"He's not the best choice from VAPR, let alone the entire class," Eth joined her.

"We'll just have to see, won't we," Olive replied. They discussed a few others, but none were serious considerations, just mentions. The Vytal Festival wasn't far away, and they were all looking forward to see who would impress them enough to warrant an invitation. They called the meeting there, all getting up to return to their rooms, their heads filled with expectations.


	5. Exercising the Darkness

Umbra counted in her head with each strain of her core. Hanging sit ups were never easy, but she always found the workout to be one of the most satisfying. When she reached two hundred, she stopped. She let herself dangle as she caught her breath, feeling her abs cry out in relief. As she debated whether or not to stop, she found herself face to face with two pairs of shorts.

"Hi Umbra," Mint greeted her in her usual quiet voice. Umbra turned her head to look up at her fellow Queen's Guard member and Velvet of team CFVY, both in gym clothes despite neither being common sights in the workout room. In fact, those three were currently the only people there.

"Hey you two," Umbra greeted as she pulled herself up and off the bar she had been hanging from. "What brings you here?"

"Velvet," Mint said, deferring to her friend.

"I was wondering...if you...could help me train?" she told her slowly as if she were embarrassed. If Umbra didn't know better, she would've thought Velvet was mocking her. Even though SURS and CFVY were together a lot, Umbra hadn't actually talked with her much.

"I don't mind," Umbra answered, "though I'd like to know why. You're not exactly the athletic type."

"I want to be able to keep with my teammates. Lately it feels like I'm just dragging them down," she explained, looking down and away.

"And what about you?" Umbra asked, turning to Mint.

"She asked me to join her," Mint responded, gesturing towards Velvet.

"Works for me," Umbra said with a stretch, kind of enjoying the painful sensation in her muscles. It was satisfying in a way. "But this won't be a one time thing," she said strictly as she turned to the rabbit faunus. "If I'm doing this for you, it'll be all the way. Are you willing to stick through this?"

"Y-yes," Velvet stuttered in response.

"Good answer." Umbra noticed her tone becoming more authoritative, it not unlike her father's when he had trained her with a bit of Olive mixed in for good measure. "Today, I'll just have you do some basics to figure out your baseline. I need to know what I'm working with."

A few minutes later, Umbra had her two new students on machines as she looked at the readings. It was incredible to her how modern and high quality the machines here were, even though it seemed only a fifth of the students ever came to use them at all. Most people at Beacon had their own training methods they preferred with facilities like this being considered useless if they even knew they existed.

About an hour later, Umbra had obtained everything she needed. Mint's scores rivaled her own, outperforming her in some areas and losing in others. Velvet's were noticeably worse, but Umbra couldn't bring herself to call them bad. It was remarkable that even though she was comparatively low scoring here, it would still be high in any combat school and absolutely outstanding compared to normal people. Back home, she knew people that would kill to be at this level.

"Do you have a regular training schedule?" Umbra asked as she began making notes in her head on how to train Velvet.

"Yeah, I do," she answered.

"Write it down in here," Umbra said, handing over her scroll. "Make sure you note what you train as well."

"Okay," Velvet replied as she began to put everything in. Umbra turned to Mint in the meantime.

"You, I know I don't need to train," Umbra told her.

"I just came for Velvet," Mint assured her. "The change of pace is nice."

"Of course it is," Umbra said, placing a hand on Mint's shoulder as she moved in closer to whisper. "Be careful how much you stare. It's really obvious."

Mint went tomato red at this accusation, but didn't put up any kind of verbal defense. Instead, she just looked away. "I'm finished," Velvet called their attention back to her. Umbra took back the scroll and began reading it over.

"Tomorrow, six AM, we'll start," Umbra told her after she looked at what was entered.

"Thank you," she said with a bow. That was one of Umbra's favorite things about Beacon: almost everyone was a hard worker. The students were there to get stronger, not just to coast into a career of some kind.

However, every rule had its exceptions, and this particular exception had just entered the room along with Redmond and Cinnamon. "Hey!" Silhouette called out to the girls and came bounding over.

"Hello Silhouette," Velvet greeted, leaning over slightly.

"Hello," Mint said similarly.

"Hey," Umbra said with a nod, her prickly nature rearing back up. Redmond and Cinnamon followed their companion at a more reasonable pace, raising their hands in greeting.

"What are you guys up to?" Silhouette asked in her over energetic tone of voice.

"You may not recognize it. It's called training," Umbra answered.

"Hey, I know what is. It's what you and Canary are doing all the time," Silhouette replied, her voice clearly making a joke. Umbra just grimaced in response.

"We're here to train too. At least, I am," Redmond said in an attempt to make peace.

"Are you two just tagging along?" Velvet asked, directing the question at the other girls.

"No, we're here to teach," Cinnamon answered.

"Punching practice?" Umbra said the first thing that came to mind.

"Yeah. Remember that fight I had with Cyrus a while back?" Redmond started. Umbra nodded, not mentioning that she had replayed that fight her head many times. Watching Cyrus get punched in the face had been very satisfying to watch. "I hurt my wrist when I hit him, so I figured I should learn how to avoid that."

"Better late than never," Umbra replied. It had been quite a while since the fight. It was strange that only now he would focus on this.

"It's not a major concern. I usually train with Vert today, but he's been off doing his own thing lately, so I had the time," he explained.

"And that's where we come in," Silhouette said, strangely proud.

"We'll stop distracting you," Redmond said, trying to move Silhouette away.

"We're done actually," Velvet told them.

"And I'd like to see Silhouette teach someone," Umbra taunted.

"Get ready to take notes," Silhouette proudly declared as she strolled proudly over to a punching bag. Redmond got next to her while the other four girls stayed back and watched.

"Yah!" Silhouette yelled as she delivered a punch to the bag. As much as it bugged Umbra to admit it, the form was perfect.

"You just need to do that," she instructed as she backed up, giving Redmond room to approach.

"Umm," Redmond started, his hesitation clear as day.

"Just copy me," she said again. He followed, stepping up to the bag and trying his best to adopt her stance. He made a punch, again trying to copy her. While it was similar, all the little things were off.

"No, not like that," Silhouette told him, "You gotta do it like this." She did another perfect punch in the air in front of her. Redmond tried again, but failed.

"What exactly am I doing wrong?" he asked after ten failed punches.

"Like I said, that way won't work. Do what I do," she said again.

"Enough!" Umbra barked, storming up to the pair. She turned to the small girl with a glare of anger. "You, back off and be quiet!" Umbra didn't wait to see if she had listened, turning to the struggling boy. She moved up to him and began to manually adjust his pose. "Don't just wave your fists around. These are irreplaceable parts of your body. If you're going to use them to attack, make it count."

"Ah," he muttered as he changed his pose according to her directions.

"Don't aim at the target. Pick a spot, and punch past it," Umbra went on. She took a pose next to him. "Watch my movements carefully." She did a proper punch, but very slowly, allowing Redmond to observe every movement. "Now do it with me."

Like mirror images, Umbra led Redmond with the proper form. After that, she had him throw a full speed punch. It wasn't perfect, but it was leagues better than before. "One hundred of those," she told him. "If you throw a punch worse than that one, you're starting over."

"Yes," Redmond said with gratitude. Umbra watched closely as he began to attack over and over. While the quality varied, it remained high until punch ninety-eight. She remained silent, allowing him to finish with two more punches that met her standards.

"Well done," she praised him, patting his shoulder. "It's not perfect, but you shouldn't hurt yourself with that."

"It's not enough," he answered. "I'll need more than just a straight."

"Master the basics first. Build on them later," she instructed him. "I'm sure Cinnamon can help you with that." Cinnamon nodded to this and stepped closer. Umbra scanned the room, seeing all the others were still there. Mint and Velvet were quietly discussing something, probably the training methods. Silhouette was in the corner, pouting. Upon making eye contact, the smaller girl turned around and headed out the door.

"Have him rest and do more basics. Make sure he can punch with both arms, focus on his left," she ordered as she walked out, not leaving any time for objections to be voiced. In the hall, it was an easy task to hear the steps of someone walking the mostly deserted halls. Turning a corner, Umbra caught sight of the other away quickly. Umbra bounded over, cutting her off. Silhouette tried to move around her, but Umbra kept up her block.

"Move," Silhouette demanded.

"Mind explaining what you were trying to do earlier?" Umbra asked, ignoring her previous comment.

"Teaching," she answered, again trying to duck to the side. Umbra moved in tandem with her, blocking the escape attempt.

"Not from my perspective," Umbra lectured. "Seems like you were trying to yell technique into him."

"Well sorry we're not all perfect," Silhouette spat back at her.

"Is that how you were trained? If so, I amazed you can do anything properly." Umbra continued.

"No, it's not," Silhouette replied, finally giving up on running away, settling for hanging her head.

"Then tell me what the hell you were doing," Umbra demanded.

"Trying!" she shouted back, seeming to fight back tears. "I was trying to help my friend! It's not my fault I don't know how!" Umbra was taken aback by this display of emotion, suddenly regretting her own outburst.

"Sorry," Umbra apologized. She stayed silent as she calmed down, letting Silhouette do the same. Umbra found herself being very grateful that this place was mostly deserted, though she couldn't help but notice the several individuals hiding around the corner. "Come with me," Umbra told her, taking her hand and leading her away as Silhouette tried in vain to cover up the sound of her sniffles. A few minutes later, they were out of the building and sitting on a bench on the grounds.

"I'm sorry about snapping at you," Umbra told her after making sure they were alone.

"It's fine," Silhouette replied, no longer on the verge of crying but still well below her usual levels of energy.

"Think you're up to telling me what was going on back there?" Umbra asked. Silhouette gave a sigh of resignation.

"No one taught me. I've always been able to fight like this and never needed to work for it," she started. "But after seeing my team and VAPR and the Queen's Guard all working hard, I thought I needed to too."

"That's good," Umbra said in both surprise and support.

"But I don't know how to train. Everytime I try, I just end up getting frustrated and confused. I thought teaching Redmond would help me figure it out, and you saw how that went," Silhouette finished with another sigh. Umbra thought briefly on this before reaching her decision.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll be training Velvet. If you're interested in joining us, be in the weight room at six AM. Teaching won't help, but being taught may be exactly what you need," Umbra told her.

"Are you sure? I know we've never really gotten along," Silhouette said.

"I'm sure. If you're not, then I hope you enjoy sleeping in," Umbra finished as she stood up. "At least think about it."

"Okay," Silhouette said, sounding more like herself. Umbra walked back inside and went about her day like usual, doing more training with her team and the Queen's Guard. It was exhausting, but she loved it. Before going to bed, she finished up training plans, one for Velvet and one for Silhouette.

The next day she was up early and headed for the weight room. She was ten minutes early, so she expected she was going to be left waiting. Upon entering the room, she saw Velvet and Silhouette talking. Even though she had extended the offer, Umbra was still surprised Silhouette had taken her up on that.

"Morning girls," Umbra greeted them with a smile that quickly became menacing. "Ready to begin?"

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

Eth stood silently in the corner, watching the three girls train. None of them had acknowledged his presence yet, so he assumed that they hadn't registered he was there. As he observed, he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and began to jot down everything he saw. Once he was confident he had seen everything, he slipped away and back into the hall.

It didn't take long to get back to his room. All of his teammates were out at the moment, leaving him to his own devices. He made a beeline for the closet and retrieved several notebooks. Three of the ones he gathered were labeled "Umbra", "Silhouette", and "Velvet". He placed these, among others, on his desk. Eth took out his pocket notebook as he took a seat and began to write.

"You're back," Forest said as he entered the room.

"I got some interesting data," Eth answered. "Umbra is training Silhouette."

"That's a surprise," Forest commented as he too pulled out several notebooks from the closet. "Though I'm not sure which is the more unexpected."

"I'd say it's that she's training at all," Eth said. "Umbra will help anyone if they ask. She'll just have a frown the whole time."

"That's true." Forest sat down at his own desk and began to write.

"You find anything?" Eth asked without looking up or even slowing down.

"Nothing in particular. Mint still thinks she's coy. Vert's still being a loner. Beryl and Olive were doing homework together. Everything we'd expect," he rattled off. "I think Ebony and Ivory had another fight."

"So everything we'd expect," Eth finished for him. He assumed Forest had nothing left to say as he had fallen silent. Only the scratching of pencils on paper could be heard. This went on for several minutes before the door was opened. Eth looked up to see it was neither Tsukiko nor Nero, but Olive. She looked at him and his notebooks first before switching to glaring at Forest.

"Again with the books?" she asked. "And here I thought you had given this up a few years ago."

"Data is useful," Eth answered.

"This information could be useful. Plus it's good practice," Forest added. Olive sighed but didn't push the issue.

"Let me see mine," she ordered. Forest shuffled through some of his books before handing it over. Olive took a seat on the nearest bed and began reading. A few minutes later, she tossed the book aside.

"The verdict is…" Forest started, using his pencil to make a mock drumroll.

"Everything in there is correct. Yes, even that," she snapped before either of them could ask a question. "Who has seen this?"

"Just us," Forest told her.

"If you want to stay breathing you'll keep it that way," she threatened. Eth could tell that this wasn't a joke. "So other than stalking me, have you two found anything good?"

"I finished my combat chart," Eth said. "It's the likelihood of victory between any matchup in our year."

"Your chances of winning against the members of the Queen's Guard?" Olive asked.

"Umbra, sixty percent. Canary, forty percent. Mint, five percent. You, one percent," he rattled off without ever looking over a chart.

"Sounds accurate. What about me?" Olive asked, her voice betraying her confidence.

"Canary, Umbra, and Beryl have a five percent chance. Everyone else is at one percent," he answered.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd know to put Beryl in there," Olive praised him.

"Why do you ask when you already know?" Forest questioned.

"I'm just testing you. Won't be very good information agents if I'm always more informed," she smugly explained.

"Well here's something you may not have known," Forest remarked as he handed a sheet of paper to her. She took no time in reading it.

"You're right. This is new," she complimented him. "Are you sure these are all the teams they plan on sending to the Vytal Festival?"

"According to my most recent data, yes," he answered. "Is something wrong?"

"OCEN, CSIC, FENT, BEYL," she listed off. "I want the entire year there, not just half. At the very least I'd like all of the Queen's Guard present."

"Well I'm sure Ozpin would be happy to allow that right after he gives you the title of headmaster," Forest told her sarcastically.

"Or you could make a challenge," Eth chimed in. "Fight them for their spot in the tournament. After all, if they can't best you they have no chance at winning at the festival." Olive sat there contemplating before springing up.

"Are you actually going to do this?" Forest asked as she made her way to the door.

"I've got a condition I think Ozpin will agree to," she said as she walked out. The two were left wondering what on earth she could be planning.

"Is she-" Eth started.

"Don't ask. It's easier that way," Forest replied. Eth decided to obey, and returned to his notebooks, scribbling down everything he had learned.


End file.
